Forever Young

Between 1946 and 1964, 75.8 million babies were born to parents who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. This year they range in age from 46 to 64. As a group, Baby Boomers make up 28% of all Americans and cause population shifts as they reach each milestone.

A second boom has not occurred as Boomers reached childbearing years. Boomers waited longer to have children and many have not had children. Most experts say the Baby Boom phenomenon is a one-time event. While Boomers listened to the same music and watched the same TV shows as they grew up, that is perhaps the extent of their similarities. No one common denominator can characterize a group as large as the Boomers.

More Magazine ran an article in April 2009 comparing 40-year-old women of today with pictures of their mothers at the same age. The mothers looked not only matronly but so much older contrasting with the youthful, vibrant women of 40 today. Special Features writer Maureen Leader thinks that it is more than a look; it is an attitude, and it carries over to older women as well. The attitude is that Boomers think they can be whatever they want to be. They believe that they can reinvent themselves and start a second career in their fifties or sixties. They look younger because they feel younger. Millions of Baby Boomers are taking the journey through life together, but in no way are they following the same path.

Maybe Baby Boomers don’t want to grow up, but now they are starting to retire and collect social security. The real Peter Pans are in the generations that follow. Generation Next, between the ages of 20 to 34, is really taking time to explore their options before becoming responsible adults. They are also taking longer to finish their education. A gap year before or during college is popular for work or travel. They are getting married older and putting off having children as well, with increasing numbers of women having their first child after age 35. They are taking longer to become established in careers and to become financially independent. The Obama administration has ruled that children up to age 26 may remain on their parents’ health insurance. Called Echo Boomers, many still live at home with their parents. According to an article in our local paper, “About one-fourth of 25-year-old white men lived at home in 2007…compared to one-fifth in 2000 and less than one-eighth in 1970. Their Boomer parents are often happy to have a full nest, especially single parents. With the recession and the house cost of living, it makes good financial sense.

Perhaps it is increasing life expectancy that allows young people to put off the responsibilities of adulthood longer. Even Boomers may live for seven or eight decades and, therefore, have the ability to reinvent themselves several times. After thirty-one years of teaching, I was thrilled to retire and do the many things that I enjoyed occasionally but didn’t always have time for: improving my golf game, taking painting classes, fixing up my house, and volunteering, to name a few. I hope to travel as well. At age sixty, I may live another thirty years. Someday I may even shoot my age as a golf score!

Not everyone is working first and then retiring. Many young people are traveling or working at fun jobs before they settle into careers. Apparently, they agree with the Rolling Stones that “T-i-i-ime is on my side. Yes it is,” and they will be able to do it all, just not in the order that their grandparents may have expected.